Wow! Its been over a month since my last post. I apologize for the radio silence over here, but life will not slow down it seems. Between travel, work, and power outages, my sewing room has turned into a sweat shop as I've been frantically prepping for Costume College. With a little over a week until I leave for the convention I'm finally starting to see the light at the end of the sewing tunnel, so I thought I would share a quick dress I made last month.

For the first time this year, I will be teaching a class at Costume College. I'm nervous as can be, but I'm team-teaching with my good friend Sara who will be exploring the topic of Victorian reform dress while I discuss the artistic side of things. Its no secret that I'm obessed with all things pre-Raphealite, Aesthetic, and Arts and Crafts, so during my recent trip to London I made a point of stopping at the Liberty of London store.

The store itself is a beautiful tribute to Arts and Crafts architecture, and with the exeption of all the moder merchandise, has a time-capsule quality that I love. Walking in I could just imagine wealthy Victorian women and men shopping here when they wanted to feel "artistic".

Most of the clothing and homefurnishings in the store were well out of my budget, but I did treat myself to 2.5 meters of Liberty's gorgeous cotton lawn. The print is an original William Morris design (my Victorian hero!, so it was love at first sight! Once we were back from our trip, I knew this fabric would be perfect for a summer sundress and what better than to make it for my class at Costume College! Why yes, I am the kind of nerd who gets a kick out of matching my outfit to the event. A William Morris dress for teaching about William Morris' ideas!

I have so much more to share with you guys - more from our travels abroad, spoils from a trip to New York City, tons of finished projects, and even more upcoming project plans - but for now its back to the sweatshop sewing room to put the finishing touches on my Costume College wardrobe. See you soon!